Traditional lighting sources such as incandescent, fluorescent, high intensity discharge (HID) lamps, and the like, are gradually being replaced by light emitting diodes (LEDs) in many industries and applications. LEDs hold several advantages over traditional lighting sources such as increased power efficiency, size to output efficiency, and lifespan, among other others. Thus, many lighting fixtures are being redesigned to use LEDs instead of the traditional lighting sources. However, designing a light fixture to be compatible for use with LEDs may present a suite of engineering challenges, as LEDs typically require different drive electronics, environments, and/or optics than traditional lighting sources. Thus, in order to take advantage of the benefits of LEDs, novel lighting fixtures or LED-compatible electronics, optics, and/or housings components are required. For example, while LEDs are capable of producing a large amount of light for their size, the light is typically given off in a wide directional span. Thus, in order to take advantage of the efficiency of the LEDs and to make the light useful for a particular application, special optical features may be required. Different applications may require unique electronic, optical, or housing components in order to support LED compatibly. In other words, when designing a lighting fixture for LED compatibility, the solutions may be unique and application specific.
In the area of airfield lighting, runway lighting fixtures have typically used quartz halogen lamps, of which the light emitted is directed into a prism to produce narrow flat light desired for runway lighting. Thus, in order to effectively replace the lamps with LEDs and realize the benefits of LED lighting, it is desired to modify light emitted from the LEDs into a concentrated narrow beam, such that the beam can be efficiently directed into the prism and allow the runway light fixture to produce the desired light output.